VE Day Art Collaboration

Bloxham School exhibited a display of over 400 ceramic poppies at Kingham Lodge’s sculpture exhibition to belatedly mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

The poppies were created by over 150 pupils from Bloxham Primary Church of England School, Hook Norton School, St. Hugh’s Preparatory School, Swanbourne, Winchester House School and Bloxham School.

The poppy workshops were led by Bloxham School’s Art teacher and her husband, one of the potters involved in the production of the 880,000 poppies created for the Tower of London art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. The poppies were purple in remembrance of animals that served during wartime and arranged to create a sculpture at 2/3 scale of a Spitfire.

The purple poppies from the exhibition were sold at the event to raise funds for Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

Aims

The aim of this case study was to provide local schools with the opportunity to extend their art curriculum, sharing the expertise of Bloxham’s teaching staff and a visiting artist. The sale of the artwork produced benefited the wider community in raising funds for the charities Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

Background

Bloxham’s Director of Art has long-established links with Kingham Lodge Sculpture Park who approached the school with an exhibition space for their 2020 outdoor exhibition. Our director of art identified the opportunity to work with local schools to create and exhibit artwork together.

Resources

Visiting pupils used Bloxham’s Art facilities with workshops lead by teaching staff and a visiting artist (whose fee was paid for by Bloxham). Art materials were also provided by Bloxham School.

Pupil Involvement

Pupils from the schools involved were ages 9 to 10. Bloxham School pupils were aged 11 to 12. 

Frequency

Art workshops with local primary school pupils and teachers are a regular occurrence at Bloxham. The exhibition at Kingham Lodge was a single event, but with opportunity for future collaborations.